Google's mobile OS now dominates 36 percent of the national smartphone market

Android's
dominance in the United States smartphone market continues to grow, boasting a market
share of 36 percent, according to Nielsen.

The news
comes in
yesterday's blog post on NielsenWire, which shows Apple's iOS
in second place, trailing Android by 10 percent and just barely edging out
RIM's BlackBerry by 3 percent. Windows Mobile (not to be confused with Windows
Phone 7) is a distant fourth place, with just 9 percent of total market share.
HP's WebOS and Symbian both claim 2 percent, while Windows
Phone 7 takes a paltry 1 percent — equal to that of Palm OS.

In
addition, Android users also are the most data-hungry smartphone
users. "In the first quarter of 2011, Android smartphone owners consumed
an average of 582 MB of data each month, compared to 492 MB for iPhone
owners," Nielsen reports.

And while
Android users consume more data, iPhone users are more prone to downloading
apps, streaming online music, and watching video or mobile TV.